Six takeways pave way for Cowboys’ win over Giants

ARLINGTON – The Dallas Cowboys entered a strange, new world with Sunday’s 36-31 season-opening win over the New York Giants.

They forced turnovers – a whopping six them – after recording just 16 all of last season.
They used Jason Witten as a red-zone weapon to the tune of two touchdown catches, something he hadn’t done since Dec. 12, 2010 against Philadelphia. They didn’t squander a lead, which used to happen regularly during the Jason Garrett era.

And it all up and it made for something really unfamiliar: Their first win over the Giants at AT&T Stadium in five tries.

But it wasn’t secured until Brandon Carr intercepted a deflected Eli Manning pass and returned it 49 yards for a touchdown to give Dallas a 36-24 lead with 1:50 left.

“That was a heck of a performance,” Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo said. “It’s exciting. We haven’t had that in a while, to create that many turnovers. It’s going to serve us well as we move forward.”

Carr’s touchdown wasn’t the only one notched by the defense. Barry Church scooped up a Dave Wilson fumble in the third quarter and returned it 27 yards to give Dallas a 20-10 advantage.

The last time the Cowboys had six turnovers in a game was 2003.

Jerry Jones fired defensive coordinator Rob Ryan after last season in part because his 3-4 defense couldn’t take the ball away. Under new defensive coordinator and 4-3 Tampa 2 Cover scheme guru Monte Kiffin, the coaches stressed turnovers throughout the offseason, training camp and the preseason.

It was clear their words didn’t fall on deaf ears.

Dallas recorded three takeaways in the first six minutes against New York. In the fourth quarter, the Cowboys recovered a fumble during a punt after the ball bounced off the arm of the Giants’ Trumaine McBride, who was busy blocking rookie J.J. Wilcox.

“The turnovers were the story of the game,” coach Jason Garrett said. “It’s been a huge point of emphasis from minute one. It’s a great feeling when your players can take that (coaching) from the practice field to the first game.”

Garrett said it also helps that the Cowboys have more defensive playmakers.

“It starts with the players having the ability to be around the ball and make those plays,” he said. “And it’s something you emphasize and emphasize. It’s the No. 1 statistic in football and it’s been that way for 100 years.”

Despite leaving the game just before halftime with sore ribs after getting crunched by two defenders during a sack, Romo was 36-of-49 for 263 yards with two TDs and one interception. Romo returned at the start of the second half after Kyle Orton closed out the first half.

“It’s football,” Romo said. “You just take shots throughout the game and just keep playing. Believe me, there are about 28 other guys out there who went through the same thing. It was a good game. Hard fought…I’ll be fine.”

The first half was a sloppy affair with the teams combining for four turnovers.

In addition to Carr, DeMarcus Ware and Will Allen had interceptions. In addition to his scoop-and-score after Nick Hayden forced a Dave Wilson fumble, Church stripped Wilson inside the Dallas 5-yard line in the first quarter, resulting in a fumble recovery at the 7 by George Selive.

Rookie DeVonte Holloman recovered the fumbled punt.

“Every single day we are trying to get turnovers in practice,” Dallas defensive captain Sean Lee said. “We think about it non-stop.”